“Turncoat” or Rip Torn

December 25th, 1776 was a very important date in American history. It’s when George Washington lead his troops in a surprise attack against England during the Revolutionary War that ultimately ended in the 13 colonies’ independence from English rule. So, by brainwashing Rip Hunter and sending him back in time to assassinate Washington, the Legion of Doom has threatened this rather important occurence. No Washington, no America.

The Legends learn of this HUGE development while in the time stream, and Sarah quickly realizes the Legion’s trap to get them to come to the past in order to gain access to the Spear of Destiny (if you’ve been watching this season, you’ll know what it is).

Photo: Cate Cameron/The CW

The team goes undercover to a party in 1776 in order to protect Washington. Sure enough, a bunch of Redcoats (the term for British troops due to their distinctive outerwear) show up brandishing M-16 rifles instead of muskets (talk about an unfair advantage). Before any harm can befall Washington, Sarah and Rory rush him out back where they run into the waiting Rip, who’d also set off an Electric Magnetic Pulse device which shorts out any electrical device in its range. That means Ray Palmer is stuck in miniature mode, and the Wave Runner is uncloaked with is computer system offline.

Sarah is shocked to see Rip because when the Legends last saw him, the Legion had him imprisoned in the 1960s unaware of his true identity as a time saving bad-ass. After some brief and awkward small talk, Rip shoots Sarah in the gut and takes Washington and Rory prisoner.

Photo: Cate Cameron/The CW

Vixen and Heywood try to track down Washington when they run into some ruffians that end up pushing Nate over a cliff in his Steel persona, requiring Vixen to rescue him. Back on the ship, Jackson has to fight off several Redcoats and Rip who gained access to the Wave Runner by pulling the door down while Ray has to run for his life from a rogue rat.

Photo: Cate Cameron/The CW

In the British camp, Rory teaches Washington about what it means to be an American – it means never giving up. George was resigned to his fate of being hung as a traitor, but Rory let him know that Americans NEVER give up. Vixen and Heywood (after a brief, sexual tryst between them) show up at the British camp and help Washington and Rory escape.

Photo: Katie Yu/The CW

Doing his best hide-and-seek routine, Jackson tries to stay one step ahead of Rip. Eventually Rip makes his way to the infirmary where he knocks out Stein and threatens Sarah until Jackson tells him what he wants to know. Jackson tells him, but Rip apparently kills Sarah anyway. After escaping from the killer rat, Ray is able to turn on the ship’s main power. The computer heals Sarah unbeknownst to Jefferson who chases Rip down in order to recover their piece of the Spear and to avenge Sarah’s death. Jefferson has Rip in his sights, but he hesitates pulling the trigger. Sarah, now fully revived, shows up and reminds Jefferson that it is Christmas Day, so they give Rip a pass and he saunters off with the one thing they were tasked to protect.

What will happen when the rest of the Legion gets their hands on the Spear? We’ll just have to wait until next week. Be sure to follow @ATLCW and me at @ATLBlerd, so we can live-tweet the show together!